Civic bodies gear up to set up ‘model wards’ that manage waste the best

At least 12 municipal wards in the civic bodies of East, South, North, New Delhi and the Delhi Cantonment have been identified to be declared as model areas.

delhiUpdated: Apr 05, 2019 10:54 IST

HT Correspondent

New Delhi

At least 12 municipal wards in the civic bodies of East, South, North, New Delhi and the Delhi Cantonment have been identified to be declared as model areas.(HT File Photo )

From setting up composting machines and segregation of household waste to setting up of rainwater harvesting systems, various wards in the five civic bodies of Delhi are gearing up to become ‘model wards’.

At least 12 municipal wards in the civic bodies of East, South, North, New Delhi and the Delhi Cantonment have been identified to be declared as model areas.

The initiative was taken after the National Green Tribunal (NGT) in its order on compliance of municipal solid waste management rules had directed on March 11 that all five urban local bodies identify and declare one area under their jurisdiction as a model area to highlight the correct management of municipal solid waste, plastic, biomedical waste and other waste.

South MCD has identified RK Puram, Andrews Ganj and Janakpuri South as model wards, while east MCD has identified Yamuna Vihar, Mayur Vihar Phase-I and Anand Vihar.

“We have already installed a composting machine in our ward, which would cater to at least eight residential colonies. Pamphlets have been distributed among households on how to segregate waste and what could be the penalty imposed if the waste is not segregated. Each household has been given at least two bins – blue and green. At least 3,500 such bin sets have been distributed. The municipal corporation’s garbage collectors are also being trained,” Gunjan Gupta, councillor of Anand Vihar, said.

In south MCD, the councillor of Janakpuri South said apart from setting up composting machines and distributing bins to households, rainwater harvesting systems have also been set up in parks.

“As the water table has dropped in some areas, trees have started drying up. To increase the groundwater level, we have installed rainwater harvesting systems in 15 parks. The garbage collectors are refusing to collect garbage from homes if it is not segregated,” Veena Sharma, Janakpuri South councillor, said. What various wards are doing to live up to the model tag n Composting machine being set up n Bins for segregation being

distributed among households, n Bins on road sides and parks for segregating waste n Rain waster harvesting in parks n MCDs tying up with various agencies working on solid waste management n Safai Nigrani committees n Helping RWAs to set up micro composting

In North MCD, Pitampura, Rajendra Nagar and Rohini-G have been identified as model areas.

“We are tying up with a number of agencies, residents’ welfare associations and market associations so that segregation of waste is done. If any RWA is willing to come up with micro-level composting, we would help them tie up with an agency working in that field. Ward level committees, called Safai Nigranis, have been set up under local councillors. Training modules are also being prepared,” Varsha Joshi, commissioner, north MCD, said.

While three wards under the Cantonment Board – Poultry Farm Area Number 19, Shastri Bazar and Shankar Vihar — have been identified, the entire of New Delhi (Lutyens’ Delhi) area has been identified as a model area.

“At least 3,000 houses in the New Delhi Municipal Council (NDMC) area are segregating their waste and are producing compost from kitchen waste. We are gradually phasing out roadside bins and installing underground bins which are covered and have a hydraulic system. User charges, according to the Municipal Solid Waste Management Rules, 2016, are also being collected,” Ramesh Kumar, medical officer of health, NDMC, said. Experts welcomed the move. “This is an intervention in the right direction. Ideally, a model ward should have zero waste. The waste has to be segregated at source and there has to be decentralised processing units. But if the waste ends up in landfills, then we would have to look at the structure again,” Swati Singh Sambyal, programme manager, environmental governance (Municipal Solid Waste) at Centre for Science and Environment, said.